We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • SUBMISSIONS
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
  • STRATEGY
  • GLOBAL
  • LOGISTICS
  • MANUFACTURING
  • PROCUREMENT
  • VIDEO
    • News & Exclusives
    • Viewer Contributed
    • CSCMP EDGE 2022 Startup Alley
    • Upload your video
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • White Papers
    • Webcasts
    • Events
    • Blogs
      • Reflections
      • SCQ Forum
    • Mobile Apps
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
  • STRATEGY
  • GLOBAL
  • LOGISTICS
  • MANUFACTURING
  • PROCUREMENT
  • VIDEO
    • News & Exclusives
    • Viewer Contributed
    • CSCMP EDGE 2022 Startup Alley
    • Upload your video
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • White Papers
    • Webcasts
    • Events
    • Blogs
      • Reflections
      • SCQ Forum
    • Mobile Apps
Home » Keep an eye out for change
Direct Connection

Keep an eye out for change

October 18, 2019
Rick Blasgen
No Comments

Adapting to the ever-changing supply chain landscape requires vigilance. What that means in today's terms is that you need to keep a strategic eye on macroeconomic trends, advancements in technology, and consumer expectations that have the potential to become either rallying points or disruptors to your business.

Indeed, there are many issues facing you today—such as trade wars, autonomous fleets, crowdsourcing, and the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement—that you were not dealing with five years ago. But in spite of recessions, natural disasters, and border issues, supply chains still need to roll on. Which means that if you don't evolve quickly, you die. That may sound a little harsh, but if you don't shift and adjust with the landscape, you will wither and someone else will fill the void.

Despite the growth and positive momentum within our field, being a supply chain professional today isn't easy. It requires that we be open to anything, because change is inevitable. Sometimes you need to see the world through a different lens, adjust your perspective, and eliminate blind spots. Innovation knocks infrequently, so you've got to consciously open the door and welcome it in.

Being a supply chain leader requires the ability to focus part of your brain on the future and the other part on routing freight, for example. You need to be able to work at both ends of the spectrum, from the strategic to the tactical. That's a rare skillset, as most people tend to be either strategic or tactical by nature.

So, you either need to be both or hire both, growing and assembling quality talent is the key to a successful future in supply chain.

Supply chain is still, after all, a people business. All of the whiz-bang trends and technologies are great, but people are greater. If your team is high functioning, if everyone understands their specific role, is trained to perform it, and collaborates effectively, then the company benefits and the individual benefits.

As your professional organization, it's our responsibility to help prepare you for what's coming. We promise to be a supply chain influencer, providing the highest quality research and education to improve the profession.

Whether you're a supply chain practitioner, an academic, or a student, CSCMP cares about you, your professional development, and your success. We take our job as the custodian of the supply chain industry very seriously. CSCMP believes we have an implicit obligation to be caretakers of our discipline and advance it wherever and whenever possible.

Strategy
  • Related Articles

    Navigating the generational divide

    The year of the member

    Never stop learning

Rick Blasgen is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).

Recent Articles by Rick Blasgen

A final farewell

Look to your leaders

Planning ahead

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Forecasts call for freight rate slumps in 2023

  • Projected U.S. recession in early 2023 will soften freight market

  • Inflation drops again as interest rate hikes hit home, NRF says

  • How to avoid the next crisis: A new approach to supply chain agility

  • New Jersey truck fleet says Freightliner tractors will deliver safety as well as freight

Featured Video

20221107korber large vs

Enhancing Customer Experience with Your Supply Chain Strategy

Viewer Contributed
With the rise of e-commerce, many businesses have had to transform their warehouses to handle online orders in addition to regularly scheduled inventory shipments. This means warehouses need more information than ever before to ensure they can meet customers' needs. As a result, companies need to select warehouse...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Guide to Pallet Rack Safety

  • 3PLs: Complete Orders Faster with Flexible Automation

  • A shipper's guide to navigating post-pandemic holiday freight

  • THE NEW WAY TO WAREHOUSE: 4 Innovations in Automation & Robotics to Boost Warehouse Productivity

View More

Subscribe to Supply Chain Quarterly

Get Your Subscription
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • E-NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2023. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing